Robert Kaliňák (source: Sme)
Robert Kaliňák and the Interior Ministry that he had led until this Marchcontinue refusing the allegations of their active involvement in the abduction of the Vietnamese citizen Trinh Xuan Thanh in Germany and his subsequent transfer to Vietnam via Bratislava.
Kaliňák came forward with the results of a polygraph test that he took privately to convince his opponents and voters that he is telling the truth when he says that he was not aware of the abduction. Slovak legislation and criminal prosecution bodies do not recognise polygraph tests as reliable and valid evidence.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced they were ready to strip 14 persons of secrecy.
Kaliňák argues with polygraph test
Deputy chairman of the ruling Smer and MP Robert Kaliňák convened a press conference on the afternoon of August 7 to make “a fundamental statement” regarding the abduction. This came as another one in the string of his reactions to the articles published by the Denník N daily.
Kaliňák has been denying any knowledge of an abduction during the visit of the delegation that he personally met at the Hotel Bôrik in Bratislava before they flew out of the country. To prove he was telling the truth, he took a polygraph test, answering four questions related to the case.
Questions that Robert Kaliňák answered at his polygraph test
- Did you know about the abduction of a Vietnamese citizen in Germany during the visit of the Vietnamese interior minister to Slovakia?
- Did you help organise the abduction of the Vietnamese citizen?
- Did you order the staff of the Interior Ministry to help organise the abduction of a Vietnamese citizen?
- Were you aware that an intoxicated and beaten Vietnamese citizen was transferred to a car within the procession of the delegation of the Vietnamese minister?
Kaliňák answered all the questions in the negative and the polygraph evaluated them as true answers.
Kaliňák only lied in two cases, based on the polygraph results that he presented to the press: When asked whether he was worried there could be a mistake in the test, he said he wasn’t and when asked whether he had ever done anything bad to anyone, he said no.
Kaliňák took the test at a private polygraph expert, the same that opposition MP Igor Matovič visited during one of his disputes with former prime minister Robert Fico. He said he avoided the polygraph at the police and at the National Security Office in order to prevent his critics from claiming that the results might have been manipulated.
The former minister called on Denník N to prove their claims in a similar way he proved his.
Police officers will be allowed to testify
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry stated that on August 8, Minister Denisa Saková would strip of secrecy 14 people who might be able to provide relevant information in the case.
It is not clear who the people are and whether they are the same people that Denník N quoted in its report about the abduction. The ministry stated they would make no comments on the case as it is currently being investigated by criminal prosecution bodies in Slovakia.
The process only started on Friday, August 3, when a Denník N reporter was heard by the General Prosecutors Office. General Prosecutor Jaroslav Čižnár on Monday, August 6, informed that the case would be handled by the Bratislava Regional Prosecutors Office and by the police inspection of the Interior Ministry.
Slovak officials meet German ambassador
Interior Minister Saková is scheduled to meet German Ambassador Joachim Bleicker on Wednesday, August 8 to “reassure him that the interior department will provide maximum cooperation on the investigation of this issue, just like it has done so far for the German investigators”.
Ambassador Bleicker also met President Andrej Kiska, who has been critical of the lack of action on the part of the Slovak criminal prosecution bodies so far, on August 7. Kiska informed the ambassador that Slovakia has started to take the necessary steps towards the clarification of the suspicions of Slovak state bodies' involvement in the abduction.
Kiska stated it is “necessary for the public to learn the truth and for Slovakia to remain a trustworthy partner for Germany”.
